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 Media companies count on ticket sales in China, which is
projected to become the world's largest movie market next year,
to bolster their bottom lines. And some films, such as recent
Oscar winner "Green Book," rely on Chinese investment to make it
to the big screen.
That, along with China's limit of 34 imported movies per year,
has forced movie and TV studios to shape programming in a way
that satisfies Chinese censors without suppressing the creative
freedom of producers and writers.
"They have tried to do it in such a way that they can make as
much money as possible by having access to the China market, but
not become so embarrassed by the backlash at home," said Stanley
Rosen, a political science professor at the University of
Southern California.
The creators of irreverent comedy "South Park" took aim at that
approach, as well as China's policies on free speech, in an
episode released on Oct. 2 called "Band in China." "South Park"
episodes were subsequently pulled from Chinese streaming sites.
The show disappeared around the time China said it would not
broadcast U.S. National Basketball Association games following a
tweet by a Houston Rockets executive who backed protests in Hong
Kong.
Neither reaction should surprise anyone in Hollywood, said
Lindsay Conner, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who has represented
Chinese companies in the United States.
"The 'South Park' episode was about as deliberate a provocation
as one can get," Conner said. "It's what 'South Park' is about.
The response of the Chinese censors was entirely predictable."
POOH AND XI
China has banned Western entertainment in the past. In August
2018, the country denied entry to Walt Disney Co's "Christopher
Robin" film, which featured Winnie the Pooh. The government did
not give a reason, but Pooh's appearance has been compared to
President Xi Jinping's, and the character has been used as a
symbol of resistance to the Chinese government.
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Chinese companies also invest an unknown sum in individual movies
such as "Green Book," which was backed by Alibaba Group's Alibaba
Pictures. Tencent Holdings Ltd, a Chinese social media and gaming
firm, is a co-financier of the upcoming "Terminator: Dark Fate,"
which will be released by Paramount Pictures. Paramount is owned by
Viacom Inc, the same company that distributes "South Park."
Eager to get a greenlight from Chinese censors, Hollywood studios
take steps to avoid irking the government.
A script for 2015 sci-fi comedy "Pixels," for example, featured a
scene where space aliens blew up China's Great Wall, but the movie
released in theaters spared the landmark.
Filmmakers also have recorded scenes in China and added plotlines
where Chinese characters are heroes. In the 2015 film "The Martian,"
China's space agency helps save a astronaut, played by Matt Damon,
who becomes stranded on Mars.
While Hollywood has long tailored programming to the Chinese market,
the NBA incident highlights a relatively new risk. With the
prevalence of social media, stars of a film could make comments that
offend the government, said Marc Ganis, president of Jiaflix, a
company that streams movies in China.
"I assure you the studios are paying attention," Ganis said.
"They are also in a no-win position," Ganis added. "They can't tell
their talent not to say things because they will get tarred for
that. They have to hope their talent thinks before they tweet."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant;
editing by Bill Tarrant and Cynthia Osterman)
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